Two heartbroken people and a Ribena
by prettylittledemigod
Summary: Piper McLean is heart broken when Jason leaves her for Reyna. She escapes to England, only to meet another person, no, Egyptian god, who is trying to forget his ex. With each other's help, they heal. Piper gets rid of her drinking habit, and Anubis learns to love again. Rated T for a reason, all characters belong to Rick Riordan.
1. Chapter 1

**Because all wonderful incidents happen in a bar**

"What can I get you, miss?" the bartender asked 21 year old Piper. He was cute, but boys did not interest Piper McLean after the last one named Jason Grace. The daughter of love found it hard to fall in love, _How ironic_. She had found him making out with Reyna in the woods at Camp Halfblood. Unable to control her tears, she ran from the damned remembered agreeing to her dad when he asked her to accompany him to London.

"Uh...I'd like a beer."she said. "Yes miss." the bartender said and smiled flirtatiously. Piper sighed, she hadn't lost her damn sexy looks. Instead, after the breakup, they had improved, as if Aphrodite was sorry for crushing her heart into millions of pieces. It was more like running a road roller over it when some blue-eyed blondies asked her out.

She was seated on a bar stool,when a guy entered. Usually Piper wasn't the one to check a guy out. But boy,was he hot, he had dark brown hair and chocolate eyes which made her insides melt. His expression kind of dimmed the mood though, he looked like he was carrying all the pains of the world.

 _Breakup,definitely._ Her Aphrodite part screamed. It wasn't his looks that drew her to him,he had a strange aura around him,when he came and sat besides her, it grew stronger. She was sure he wasn't a human.

"Can I help you?" he asked in an irritated tone, she realized that she was staring and looked away, her cheeks getting hotter each second."I'm sorry." "Whatever." he shot back. _Attitude much?_ She used Annabeth's technique of studying his behavior and finding out exactly _what_ he was. Suddenly realization struck her, the aura was godly."You're a god!" That got his attention, he swirled on his stool, dragged it closer to her, and asked, "Are you a magician?" _Excuse me? Is he mad? What the Hades is he talking about? Magician?_ He noticed her face and sighed."I guess not,then...a Halfblood, and judging by your looks..."He trailed off, taking in her beautiful features.

Then he made his biggest mistake, he looked into her eyes.

They changed color, from blue to green to brown. Piper frowned, and then waved a hand in front of him. He blinked twice, and mumbled "Sorry"Piper smirked and said, "Whatever" in a tone too familiar. The boy rolled his eyes, he was starting to regret his decision of taking a break from the underworld, he then remembered, it wasn't his decision to make,Osiris had insisted that he took a break into the mortal world. After all, it was Sadie who left him for the Amulet making magician."So... a daughter of Aphrodite?"he asked. _It was going to be a long night_ ,"Yeah...but who are _you?_ I mean, I'm sorry if I have wounded your glass like pride. But I haven't heard of any god, even a minor one, who spends his day drowning his sorrows with a Ribena." He shot her a glare, then smirked and answered "I am Anubis, the egyptian god of death and funerals." "Uh...egyptian...I didn't know...". His smirk only grew wider."Of course you didn't, you weren't worthy enough to know." "That doesn't even make sense!"she nearly rolled his eyes and muttered "Sounds just like Sadie."

"Who?"

"No one."

"Fine."

"Seriously, no one."

"Fine."

"..."

"..."

"Say something!"Anubis huffed.

Piper smirked,"Fine."

Anubis groaned and took a moment to recollect himself, if it continued like that he would eagerly get admitted into Taweret's hospital.

He gave her another try,"What's your name?"

"Piper McLean. My chance, why the Hades did you ask if I was a magician?"

"Long story..."

"We have much time."

"No...maybe some other time."

"So there would be some other time."

"Maybe...but now I need to return to my boss.."

"Okayyyy...then ". Piper had a cute little frown over her face, she pouted,she was oblivious to the fact that she was drunk and was flirting. He laughed, she was annoying, but fun.

"I don't know you well daughter of Aphrodite, but I'd like to."

Piper smiled a genuine smile. And Anubis noticed it .

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 **Soooooooo...This was crazy. I had this pairing in mind and I went , _why not?_  
**

 **Please review.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Of Polaroids, explainations and of course** _ **Ribenas**_ **.**

"Pipes, you did not agree to come to London so that you could stay under the covers the whole time, right?" Tristan called out to Piper through the door of her room. Instead of booking a hotel room, like normal people do, her dad had bought a house before travelling to London, England, because, of course, he wasn't a normal person, he was 'The Tristan McLean' movie star extraordinaire. Piper heard a sigh and then footsteps which went down the stairs.

Even though her drinking had reduced after meeting the annoyingly hot Egyptian Death god a few weeks ago, Piper did not remember last night properly. She got up from the bed slowly and winced as she did. There was pain in her head, she reached out to the packet of Ambrosia on the side table, after shoving a piece in her mouth and waiting for a few minutes, slowly but surely, the pain subsided. Over the last few days, she had realized that Ambrosia was way better than painkillers for hangovers.

When it was 2 o'clock in the afternoon Piper stepped out of her room and went into the kitchen for breakfast. That was how she spent her days since the past few months, no matter in which continent she was, her routine was usually the woke up at 2, ate breakfast and then spent the evening locked in her room with her guitar, made a few cool tunes and sent them to the Demigods, a band of halfblood sons and daughters of Apollo. Secretly, Piper had been writing out songs for them without telling her ex-friends at the 2 camps. She thought that it made her at least responsible for her own self and her cureer. Then after dinner Piper spent the whole night and a few hours of morning at bars. Piper made sure that her dad did not know about the liquor she drank. He knew about her job as the songwriter of the Demigods though. On the island, Piper saw a note left by her dad and an envelope, she winced as she read it-

 _Pipes, I don't know why, but you haven't being acting normally these , there is an art show opening being held nearby. I know about your interest in Polaroids and got you a ticket, it is a fancy place and i know it's not your style, but please do go._

 _-love,Tristan._

Piper sighed after reading the letter, sure enough there was a ticket to an art opening. _Fine, I'll go._ She thought. What harm could it do anyways?

Piper fiddled the strap of her grey one shouldered dress. To say that she that she looked pretty would be an understatement, there was no man who did not turn his head towards her at least a billion times. When she was studying a polaroid, a familliar voice sounded,"Good evening, daughter of Aphrodite," Piper turned around, smilling after recognizing it. Anubis stood before her, as hot as ever,"Good evening, god of funerals,"Piper responded, gigling,"Now, to what do I owe this lovely visit, may I ask?",she asked.

The jackal god hoped that he could tell her the truth, that he was missing her, even after meeting her only once. Osiris had noticed that his faithful servant was not paying enough attention to the work he had been once so dedicated to. Hathor, the Egyptian form of Aphrodite had visited Osiris and told him about Anubis' reason of distraction and once again, Osiris sent him upstairs,to the mortal world.

Anubis sighed and said,"I suppose I owed you explaintions, did I not?" Piper smiled and said "Course you did.". Anubis led her to a more secluded area, a can of Ribena appeared in his right hand, he told her about egyptian gods and goddesses, some myths and magicians, Piper was an attentive listener. After he finished, Piper asked him the question which was eating her from the inside, she took a breath, and asked,"Who's Sadie?".Anubis looked into her eyes, which now were changing really fast, as if she was panicing. His expession turned serious,"She's my ex-girlfriend, she left me for a guy whose life I saved, I thought that she would choose me if I saved his life, but she didn't, she left me.". Piper sighed and said,"You know, I'd tell you that 'whatever happens happens for the best' but honestly, it doesn't, I feel that you have to make it happen, even with the fates controlling our lives we need to at least make some progress on our own," Piper paused, and then said, as if realizing something,"Or else you would be stuck up in the past and drowning your self in wine like me."

Anubis glanced at her, she was on the verge of tears, even at that time she looked irresistible. _Wait, what?_ Anubis was shocked at his own thoughts. He needed some peice of mind,he transported them to Piper's room, her dad was home and asleep, he made Piper sleep too. He sat down by the edge of the bed, and recollected himself. _Since when did he start having feelings like that for someone except Sadie?_ Then he recalled the advice of the girl who was sleeping, he turned towards her, if it was possible, she looked more beautiful at night, her skin glowed as moonlight kissed it. Silently, he got up, pressed his lips to her cheek and dissolved into darkness saying,

 _Good night, Piper._


	3. Chapter 3

**A Picnic in a lovely cemetery** _ **, or,**_ **the mystery of the stolen Ribenas**

Piper woke up as the sunlight streamed in from her window. _Okay...This is way too odd,_ Piper thought, since when did she wake up without a hammering headache at...she glanced at the clock and saw the time, _It was freakin' 8 o'clock._ Her eyes widened as she recalled what happened last night. The party, Anubis, Egyptian god's. She then remembered crying in front of the death god, him bringing her to her room, _oh Aphrodite, did something happen at night when he was here?_ Piper heard a voice, her mother's, to be particular, saying, _oh, of course not, my love, Anubis would never do something like that when you are drunk, but in other states, he might..._ Piper was glad when she heard that, she knew that he was a gentleman, or god, whatever, and immediately tuned out when her mother was about to continue.

Piper smiled as she realized that she had drunk quite less last evening, all because of Anubis' company. She smiled warmly as she thought about him, his eyes, his hair, his smile, oh gods, that charming lopsided smile. She rose from the bed, thinking of making the extra hours useful. So, after brushing, taking a bath and changing, she went down and for the first time since forever, made Sally Jackson's famous pancakes ( **read:** tried to make Sally Jackson's famous pancakes, but failed miserably because she did not know how to flip them). But hey! She tried! "Pipes! You're up? At this time?" Her dad's voice came from behind her as she started to pour milk in her bowl of cereals, after the unfortunate pancake incident."Yeah dad, I thought that a change would be good," Piper saw that her dad was extremely happy at her changed behavior, as he said,"Piper, I'm happy to hear that, really. And by the way, before I forget, I had to tell you that the Demigods are expecting a new piece for a female solo, and they are practically begging you after their last hit you wrote, and they say that they want it by tomorrow." Piper stared at her father, and went,"Tomorrow, how the Hade..uh.. hell do they expect me to write a song by tomorrow?"Piper bit her lip at the fumbling, she hadn't told him about the gods and all. Tristan sighed and said, "Well they are paying a lot for it, and by that, your lyric's demand after a hit might increase, you know." Piper nodded and said,"I'll see what I can do, daddy."Tristan smiled and said,"I have an breakfast meeting with the producer, so I'll see you in the evening, kay, Piper?" Piper smiled and nodded as he pressed a kiss to her forehead and went went to her room, she was planning to work inside it like she had always done, but she found a note on her bed, and it wasn't there when she was upstairs before. Piper read it, it said-

 _Miss McLean,_

 _We need to talk, I went over the things you said last night. And I realized that I needed to clear my head , so, I thought that if you clould help me, being a daughter of Aphrodite, and, well, a good friend as well. Meet me at the cemetery on the hill near your house at 1 o'clock._

 _-Anubis._

Piper thought _, A cemetery_... _seriously?well...He is a god of deaths...so it's justified._ She spent 2 hours deciding what type of song she would make, at the end she decided upon a soft, slow song. She sighed and thought that if she went out then she'd take her guitar as well. After some time, she dressed up in a checked shirt, black jeans and knee-high boots. She reached the cemetery, and saw that it was empty, she had to admit that it was pretty, there were many colorful and bright flowers. On a stretch of grass, she saw Anubis on a dark blue blanket with a picnic basket, she saw him from a distance, he was worryingly checking if everything was in place. **(A.N.-Awww...scared about his date...)** Piper went to him and smiled, saying,"Hey god of funerals! Nice place." He motioned for her to sit and saw that she had a guitar, and asked,"You play that?Can you do that for me?" Piper grinned and said,"I do play, but I don't have any lyrics right now, I'm actually a songwriter, the instrument aids me." He smiled pleasantly at her, his eyes staring into her's. Then someone's words made her break their stare, _ah..love_...Piper cleared her throat and broke the silence, forbidding her mother to disturb them. Piper thought that he would not just open up about his feelings, but would need at least some time to warm up to her. They started talking, she asked him about the old magicians and his life in the underworld . She then shared about her adventures with the seven, keeping talk about Jason to the minimum.

In the mid-time they were eating and drinking, it was after a long while when Anubis noticed shortage of Ribenas. He asked her,"Uh...have you seen any of my Ribena?" Piper smiled innocently, it was then that Anubis saw a pile of a few familiar cans near the beautiful Aphrodite's smiled and then said,"You should try some nectar, I really don't know why do you like that 3 yr. old kids drink soooo much,"Anubis smirked and said,"I could ask you the same, Piper McLean." They talked some more, this time Piper got to know about the different types of death festivals. Then Anubis asked her to sing for him, Piper smiled, picked up her guitar, and looked into his chocolate brown eyes and sang, as if letting her heart parcel her feelings to his in lyrics.

 _Hey Stephen,_

 _I know looks can be deceiving_

 _But I know I saw a light in you._

 _And as we walked_

 _We were talking –_

 _I didn't say half the things I wanted to._

 _Of all the girls tossing rocks at your window_

 _I'll be the one waiting there even when it's cold._

 _Hey Stephen,_

 _Boy, you might have me believing_

 _I don't always have to be alone._

 _'Cause I can't help it if you look like an angel,_

 _Can't help it if I wanna kiss you in the rain._

 _So come feel this magic I've been feeling since I met you._

 _Can't help it if there's no one else._

 _Mmm, I can't help myself._

 _Hey Stephen,_

 _I've been holding back this feeling._

 _So I've got some things to say to you, ha._

 _I seen it all –_

 _So I thought –_

 _But I never seen nobody shine the way you do._

 _The way you walk, way you talk, way you say my name –_

 _It's beautiful, wonderful, don't you ever change._

 _Hey Stephen,_

 _Why are people always leaving?_

 _I think you and I should stay the same._

 _'Cause I can't help it if you look like an angel,_

 _Can't help it if I wanna kiss you in the rain._

 _So come feel this magic I've been feeling since I met you._

 _Can't help it if there's no one else._

 _Mmm, I can't help myself._

 _They're dimming the street lights._

 _You're perfect for me, why aren't you here tonight?_

 _I'm waiting alone now, so come on and come out and pull me near to shine, shine, shine._

 _Hey Stephen,_

 _I could give you fifty reasons_

 _Why I should be the one you choose._

 _All those other girls –_

 _Well, they're beautiful_

 _But would they write a song for you?_

 _I can't help it if you look like an angel,_

 _Can't help it if I wanna kiss you in the rain._

 _So come feel this magic I've been feeling since I met you._

 _Can't help it if there's no one else._

 _Mmm, I can't help myself..._

 _...if you look like an angel._

 _Can't help it if I wanna kiss you in the rain._

 _So come feel this magic I've been feeling since I met you._

 _Can't help it if there's no one else._

 _Mmm, I can't help myself._ _Myself,_

 _Can't help myself,_ _I can't help myself._

The next thing which happened made her day, he kissed her. It was enough to send her to Elysium.

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 **Tadaaaaaa! one more chappie! Review on it, please.  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**I just had to tell you all that the song in the lat chapter was Hey Stephen by Taylor Swift, it's really amaZhang please listen to it, I think it slipped out from my tiny brain. Any way, here you go!**

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 **Anubis meeting the ex (does not contain fruit pulp or Ribena)**

To say that Piper was happy would be the biggest understatement, life was going great, after the date with Anubis in the cemetery, he had kissed her, it was magical. A few days later, her new song topped the charts in 7 countries and The Demigods' tour for their current album had just ended. She hadn't seen her God Of Supreme Hotness A.K.A. Anubis since a week, but she had taught him how to Iris Message and they had been communicating through it. If her dad or his work did not interrupt them, they talked for hours, made jokes and talked about her quests and his life in the underworld.

She had to attend a party with her dad in the evening for the closure of the tour. Piper wanted to sit at home with her guitar and fantasize about the death god, but instead, she was in London's Hyde Park, in a designer while lace cocktail dress, which, according to her father's assistant, 'made her skin glow'. She had made it clear to her dad that she was going only cause it was business. She was listening to Will Solace, the lead singer, son of Apollo, go on about how the whole band loves music. Her dad was somewhere with the actors and other singers. Piper's gaze wandered around, looking at the different celebrities and their clothes, you could not blame her, she was a daughter of the goddess of beauty and all that jazz after all.

Piper's heart leaped out of her chest as a group of people entered. Standing in her eyesight was Jason Grace, with an arm around Reyna, talking to Annabeth and Percy, _What the Hades are they doing here? I'm going to kill Will!_ she thought. The people from whom she tried to stay away by fleeing the freaking continent were in front of her. She heard Annabeth scolding Percy, who looked sad as he complained about some fish being not given their rights and being kept in 'prison' which Piper assumed was the giant aquarium she saw on her way here. A waiter was passing with champagne glasses, she grabbed one and drained it, it tasted odd, she hadn't done that since a very long time. She looked around, trying to blend in the posh surroundings on the red carpet, but of course, having the most rotten luck anyone ever had, she turned around to see Percy looking at her, frowning and then shaking his head. Piper would have laughed, if she was not busy cursing the son of Poseidon. _Stupid Percy and his stupid stupidness!_ Despite the situation she was in, she cracked a smile as she heard Percy wailing, "We have to save the fish, Annabeth! We have to get them freed! We have to give them justice! Annabeth! _Why are you laughing at me?_ " Okay, it was more than just a smile, Piper burst out laughing, everyone near her looked at her as if she was a mental asylum patient. Piper sobered as she caught the glances and thought, _way to go Piper! Starting to laugh like an idiot to get everyone staring is the exact way to keep a low profile and not get noticed._

She then moved away from the 4 people, to get a breather. When they were out of sight, she let out a sigh, and threw her empty glass into a flower pot. She raked he fingers through her hair, which she had insisted to leave open, to obtain a natural look. Just cause she was a sucessful songwriter did not mean she was going to leave her tomboyish behavior, especially as she had gotten to know from Anubis that it was one of her qualities he loved. She had changed a lot since the last time the half-bloods had seen her, thanks to the Love goddess, so hopefully they would not recognize her. Piper was scared of the confrontation she wold have to face if they realized she was there, not to mention Annabeth's famous judo flip. _Oh! Only if Anubis was here,_ he would bore her with the detailed explanations about death rituals and she would tell him all she knew about, his words, 'courtship rituals' which was basically a lot, her being a daughter of Aphrodite. "Hey, there, I saw you leave as I came in, you O.K.?" Piper recognized the was as soon as it sounded, _he was here!_ She turned around to see Anubis with worry etched all over his face, his warm chocolate eyes looked concerned. A smile lit up her face like Christmas lights, she took in his appearance. With his hair all ruffled up and a suit with a loose tie, she thought that she might have died from the hotness he radiated. But she had to face all the questioning from Hitler Annabeth, so she had to not die for a few hours.

When he saw her face changing back to distress, he walked over, wrapped an arm around her protectively, kissed her cheek and asked,"Now, Ms. Piper, what are you worried about? You can tell me remember?"Piper smiled sadly and nodded before answering,"You do remember my ex, his girlfriend and my 2 old demigod friends, don't you?" Piper felt him stiffen at the mention of her ex, but he soon relaxed and then nodded. _I have to help Piper here not let her get scared at the mention of her ex,_ he thought, _She is a strong person, though being a daughter of Hath- no, Aphrodite has it's downs as well._ He then said to her, "So what? We can't let anyone come in between us, I'll be there with you Piper, I won't let any harm come to you, even if it is caused by an idiot son of Jupiter, who can't see your worth even with glasses. Piper smiled at that, truth to be told, she could not hear anything properly after he said 'we'. She opened her mouth to ask him about it but was cut off as a pair of lips crashed onto her's. As a reaction, her hands drifted to his hair, felling its softness and pressed his hands against her back, as if afraid to let her go. His arms conveniently found their way around her tiny waist. The kiss deepened as he dipped her back, Piper's hands were all over his chest, but then they were interrupted, by a person behind them clearing her / his throat. They both turned towards the sound with identical looks of annoyance over their faces. Piper was shocked to see Annie and Percy there, at first Annabeth had her eyes opened wide with a smile gracing her face, then she slapped a hand over her mouth and gaped at Anubis, as if not believing that he was the person I was making out with. Percy voiced her thoughts in 3 simple words, "What the Hades?"

Piper looked around, searching for Reyna or her boyfriend. After recovering from the shock, Annabeth studied her expression and spoke, as if reading her mind, "I left them there, when Percy told me about you being here, I did not mention it to them," she then smiled, "We missed you Piper, I thought you were dead, last thing I expected was for you to be at a celebrity party, with the Egyptian god of death and funerals." Piper frowned, _how the furies do they know him?_ Anubis sighed and said to Piper, "I guess we should move back to the party now, your dad might start to get worried." Annabeth and Percy nodded and they walked back inside. Knowing that he was about to meet her ex and that Piper was vexed, he wrapped an arm around her waist and gave her a comforting smile, Piper smiled back, though half-heartedly. And they went in.

Jason and Reyna noticed them and waved. As soon as they saw Piper, their smile dropped.

Reyna had a look of disgust over her face, which changed into disbelief as soon as she eyed Anubis and his arm around Piper's waist. Jason started hating the Death god when he saw them that close, _Piper looked...wow, just plain simple wow_ , he thought. After the rudely interrupted make out session, she had her dress wrinkled a bit but she radiated beauty. As they neared the two Piper felt something stir inside Anubis AND Jason, it was jealousy. Unlike her mother, she hated attention and being fought over, it was almost like she was being objectified. But it was Anubis she was talking -or thinking, whatever- about, he wouldn't be like that, it had been only a few weeks since she met him but it felt like ages. He understood her, her whole being, her fears, her happiness, the whole enchilada. Though he hadn't told her that he loved her, and she felt there was no need to. Her mother would've scoffed at that, and told her that making the declaration of love is the 'fluffiest' part, that is, in the language of common people, the 'best' part.

"You're alive." was the first thing that escaped Reyna's mouth as soon as they saw her. She wasn't sad that Piper had returned, but she wasn't all enthusiastic and cheerful too. Piper answered,"I guess so..."

"I see you know about the Egyptian gods, then.."Reyna continued, gesturing towards Anubis. Meanwhile Annabeth was studying him under her calculating gaze, as if studying a test tube. Percy then spoke, cutting the tension,"I'm really glad you're alive, Piper, though I hoped you were present at the time Octagon made his speech about the idea of having Egyptian gods around being irrational, the magicians made a fool of him at the end, even the roman gods were laughing at him." Anubis was not listening or paying any attention for he was busy having an eye glare competition with Grace. Piper noticed it and said,"Jason! and uh...Reyna, I think you know Anubis, he is my-" she was about to say close friend but Anubis beat her to it, and said, with a smug smile directed towards Jason,"Boyfriend". Piper looked at him, eyes widened, he had never called her that before in person, but right now, him saying it sounded like the universal truth, as if everybody had known it since they met at the bar. Jason glares coldly at him and Piper saw it, she kept calm on the outside but was bursting with rage on the inside. U _m...hello beyotch? Who cheated? Me or you?_ It took her whole willpower to keep herself from skewering him with her dagger.

Reyna was totally oblivious to her boyfriend giving his ex's current boyfriend the jealous eye. Piper's thoughts on Reyna were not much, in the start she did feel threatened by her, very much, but now she did not feel a thing against Reyna or Jason, she was over him, now she had a wonderful immortal boyfriend who would beat Jason hands down at anything. Piper caught up with the happenings at CHB. While Reyna and Jason adjusted to the fact that Piper McLean, the girl on whom Jason had cheated on, was dating a god.

All that time Anubis was watching Piper, not staring at her, but admiring her beauty in a nice, non-stalker way. He loved looking at her when she wasn't aware of his gaze. She was smiling as Annabeth explained about how Octavian was humiliated by the magicians. She laughed when Percy interrupted with something funny, the way she laughed made his heart flutter, _oh he was so $crewed!_

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 **Sorry that I couldn't update before. I was just too lazy to type it out.  
**

 **Whatever,**

 **Bye-bye lovely people!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Alright guys, I apologize** **for not updating since a loooooooong time, and therefore, I present you the next chapter, which is, like, 4K. My personal best. So, enjoy, lovely people.**

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 **Under the starlit sky, Anubis, (no Ribena) and I**

"So...Pipes, I saw you talking a lot with that brown eyed boy, considering the fact that I am your dad, it is my right to know if there is something going on between the two of you.", Tristan said to his daughter as they were returning from the gala at night. Her cheeks turned a faint and hopefully unnoticeable pink, she lied,"No dad, we two are just close friends, like my other friends, Percy, Reyna and Annabeth." Tristan grinned at that and answered,"He is a quite close friend, I've seen."

"DAD! Seriously, there's nothing going on between us, so you don't have to spy on us, okay?"

Tristan McLean smiled playfully, clearly not believing her. "Okay, okay, you don't need to start defending yourself...or him, your 'very close friend'. Piper groaned and then realized that it was going nowhere, so she stopped responding. Instead, she thought about the evening that had happened.

If you don't include the run-in with Jason, the party was the best party ever, Anubis was present, oh Hades, even Annabeth and Percy were there, she had missed her favorite couple too much. Will Solace had later on explained to her that 2 representatives from Camp Half Blood and Camp Jupiter each had to be at the evening party, it was announced by Chiron and Lupa a few minutes before the party for a reason only the Fates know.

At the end, what mattered most was that Wise Girl did not object to Anubis and her's PDA. Annabeth had disproved every time Jason and Piper kissed. Glancing outside the limo, she recalled that during the first few days on the _Argo 2_ , Annie even thought that Jason would turn out to be a traitor and keep them as prisoners at the Roman camp _. Maybe it's a good thing that she approves_ , Piper thought. She needed a sister's encouragement.

She replayed the night in her mind, it was delightful. After they reached back home, her dad called it a night and went to his room saying that he had an early interview with some magazine. Piper was not tired, so she took all her time to remove the damned make up and jewelry, she hadn't worn much of it, she was Piper the Tomboy McLean after all, she had to live up to it.

Finishing the hard make up removing quest, she sat down on a huge, comfortable armchair in her room and rewarded herself with a glass some red wine from her father's cabinet. She usually didn't drink with her father being home. In fact, she never drank the stuff that was available at home, back during the day when she drank an unmentionable amount trying to drown her sorrows, she used to do it at different bars. But now, as she sat down, remembering that time, it seemed to be way back in the past. About half an hour later, she ended up thinking about Jason and Anubis, the duo had acted quite weirdly, there was tension between them, they even did that stiff handshake thingy that happens when the boyfriends of a girl meet. Okay, _all those romance novels Lacey made me read were starting to show their effect._ But being a daughter of Aphrodite she had known that the ex and the current boyfriend of a girl cannot be BFFs.

Piper finished her wine and kept the empty glass aside. She then continued her case study on tonight's party, Reyna was nice, Piper had liked her character even before Jason had left her. After all, it wasn't her fault that Jason had suddenly remembered his undying love for the praetor and had run away, leaving a heart-broken Piper behind.

 _At least Reyna did not act like the stereotypical, crazy girlfriend who would plan to roast her boyfriend's ex on a barbecue after chopping her into pieces with a dagger,_ she mused. Piper was happy with that. Her train of thoughts then turned to a certain chocolate-eyed, brown-haired Egyptian god of death. He was one amazing, annoying and not to mention damn hot boyfriend. The two had known each other for a long time, she remembered all their wonderfully romantic dates, the bar fight, the art show, and of course, the cemetery picnic. Wrapped up in the extremely warm memories, she fell into a comforting, sound sleep.

* * *

The light streamed in from the windows, disturbing Piper in her sleep.

She sat up and smiled, hoping to see the wall in her room which she had decorated with numerous pictures of her dad and herself all over the world, some mortal friends, siblings and even a selected few of Annabeth, Percy and herself.

But instead, she opened her eyes to see her dad standing in front of her with his eyebrows raised and an empty glass and a half filled bottle of wine on a table. It took her a few moments to register that she was not in her room.

"Were you up the entire night, Pipes?"He asked. Piper frowned and sat up,"Uh...It seems so, dad."

His look morphed into one of worry. Piper said,"Oh daddy, I just fell asleep here, you don't need to be worried." Tristan sighed, shaking his head,"Alright then, I'll be leaving, I have a meeting, but I'm free in the evening, so we can sit together and, you know, spend some father-daughter time." Her eyes gleamed with excitement, the last time her father was with her without any media people flashing their cameras and asking weird questions was probably when she was 12 years old.

"Oh dad! Thank you! You're great, really!"Piper was off yapping like a cute little puppy. Her dad smiled as he saw her daughter, and then took his leave. She was glad that she didn't have a hangover, it would not have been good if her dad had walked in on one of her old 'after the drinking binge' morning behavior. Piper didn't stop smiling even after her father left, she then got off the armchair grinning from ear-to-ear. Then she went to her room to clean up, not leaving her smile behind.

She walked out of her bathroom with only a towel wrapped around herself, humming her favorite The Demigods song 'Our Song'. Her tousled mahogany hair lay damp on her shoulders, a sweet, enchanting scent of vanilla clung to her. Walking up to her closet, she made a face, trying to figure out what to wear. Tomboy or not, she was still a daughter of Aphrodite at heart. While being engaged in the numerous clothes (most of them being ridiculously expensive gifts from her wonderful mother), she barely saw a faint glow of golden beside her. With a stubborn frown, she turned to the direction from which the light was coming. When the glow subsided she saw the image of her boyfriend surfacing from the darkness of his chambers, _he really lives up to his title, doesn't he? I suppose there is a rule that the rooms of death gods have to be all black,_ she thought, completely oblivious to the fact that she was standing semi-naked.

She saw his expression change from sporting an easy-going, cute smile to the widening of his chocolate eyes. All he could stutter out was, "Whoa! Ummmm... Uhhhh..."He was trying to look anywhere but at her. The polish on the plywood floor in her room caught his interest, the floor had a lovely dark color, which looked almost-black, he was surely getting the wooden floor in his part of the palace changed. _Wood can be so interesting..._

Piper was not sure what to do, she considered laughing at his sweet little reaction to... _To what? Why the Hades is he...Uh oh..._

As realization laced onto her face, self-conscience somehow made its way into her brain screaming the obvious fact that she was clad in only a towel in front of a BOY, no, the fates were not even that kind, he was a freaking GOD. _Hey, he looks cute when he's flustered..._ Her Aphrodite part piped up, she shot a quick glare at the picture of her mom on the wall, finally, her hand wove around the towel's hem and her grasp tightened, and she scampered off to a corner that was hopefully not in his line of sight. With a crazed look plastered on her face, she said in a shaky breath,"Uh...Anubis, hey! How considerate of you to IM me, at this particular time!" She jabbed at her closet, grabbing for the nearest clothing she could put her hands on. After a few minutes, she stepped back in front of him. Anubis raked his gaze over her, making his way to her face, and sighed, _she's so cute when she's flustered..._

Not forgetting to annoy her, his signature smirk graced his face and he said,"Well, you shouldn't have gone through the pain of putting something on, Ms. Piper, you looked presentable just enough without the clothes. All you had to do was drop the towel."

Her eyes widened as she opened her mouth to retort back with a witty answer, but nothing came out, not to show that she was defeated, Piper rolled her eyes and retorted with a huge fake grin on her face,"A jolly good morning to you too, kind sire." A ghost of a smile reached his face at her response. She took him in him, and Gods Of Olympus, he looked smoking hot. Not that she would ever make the mistake of mentioning that to him, it would be suicide. She studied his slightly ruffled hair, his soft pink lips, his long eyelashes and those eyes, _oh, Aphrodite, those eyes,_ she could easily and willingly get lost into them and never come out, ever.

Breaking her trance, he asked,"So...What do you plan on doing today?",she grinned and told him that first she would visit the Roman center about which she had heard about from Annabeth. It was said to be the headquarter from where Annie, Percy, Reyna and some other Roman and Greek demigods helped in the re-construction of the places damaged during some minor wars in the past few years. Apparently, they needed more people to help with the work. Now that Piper didn't need to run from any of the demigods, she had agreed on dropping by and helping Annabeth and Percy whenever she got time.

Anubis studied her as she spoke animatedly about how working together was helping the Romans and Greeks become more united. He couldn't help but notice that her eyes lit up and changed color rapidly just like the fireworks at the Obon Festival- which was the festival to honor the dead ancestors in Japan-as she talked about contributing for homes for elderly Greek demigods and developing a Greek city using the Roman concept and getting fauns trained to make them a bit 'Greeker' and co-operative. His light brown eyes filled with compassion as she continued explaining to him about how she had planned to help younger demigods alongside the guy he had met yesterday, Perseus Jackson.

Finally, after a few thousand minutes of speaking, she stopped, realizing that she hadn't given him a chance to speak at all. Her face flushed as she took a deep breath and stammered out,"So...Wh-why exactly did you IM me?" He smiled and said,"I wanted to ask you if you were free tonight, but I think that you will be busy, with your volunteer work and all..."

"What? Uh...Well...The work would be over early...I-I can shift it any other day too, if you want...But the stuff should be over by 6." He saw that she was reluctant to leave the work for the next day, so he said,"It would be great if you would be finished by at least 7..." A huge thousand watt beam covered her features, Anubis smiled too, and said,"Meet me by the cemetery gate at 7 P.M., we'll have dinner later." Piper nodded, it seemed that she had forgotten something very important, but she ignored that thought.

Time seemed to fly by at the center. With Annabeth scolding Percy, Percy making stupid jokes, and the Stoll brothers at their usual pranks, Piper felt like she was at home. To her surprise, even Reyna managed to crack a smile when Percy told the story of the Chinese hand-cuffs and Frank turning into an Iguana to get out of them.

On her way back home, Piper checked her watch and saw that it was five minutes past six already, she had yet to get dressed up for her date! _Oh my gods, oh my gods, oh my gods! I sound like a true child of Aphrodite, noooooooo!,_ she realized.

She entered her house and saw that her dad was not at home, _oh, he might be late as usual..._ She quickly went up to her room and slid on a pair of blue jeans which hopefully did not look that ripped or too casual for a date and went to grab her snow boarding jacket, _no, way too many painful memories are related to it..._

She frowned as her eyes flitted on to a new looking black leather jacket on her bed, _I definitely didn't get it..._ She then grinned as she thought of the only person who could gift her a black leather jacket. Putting it on, she smiled and blushed lightly as she glanced at herself in the mirror. It fit perfectly. Usually, she wasn't the one who liked to be one of the couples wearing matching clothes, but she had to say that it looked nice on her.

Piper took a walk to the cemetery, it wasn't far off, and she had time too. She checked her watch after she reached there, it was five minutes after seven. She wrapped her jacket around her tightly, it was colder outside. _Why does he always have to meet me in person at night, that too in a cemetery? Dracula...No, Dog Faced Dracula...,_ she laughed at that thought. "Hey..." Piper turned around, and saw her boyfriend standing there. She rolled her eyes, trying to act completely unaffected by the hotness he that was practically radiating, and said,"You're late. Not that it wasn't expected."

Anubis smiled genuinely and walked towards her. He kissed her passionately on the lips, making Piper smile as she too gave in. After a while, he pulled back, cupped her face and said, " I know, there was some work left out, I had to finish it, I'm sorry. Did I keep you waiting for long?" She still couldn't stop smiling from the kiss, yet, she managed to speak out, "It's okay, and no, I just got here a few minutes back. Are you tired? Cause we can meet some other time..." He shook his head, and said, "No, Piper. The thought of being with you was the only thing that kept me going through the day." **( A/N- I apologize for the cheesiness.)**

Piper adverted her gaze, hoping that he could not see the tint of red on her cheeks.

Anubis smiled as he studied her face when she looked away. After a while, she looked back at him, fiddling with the hem of her new jacket and said, "Oh, and by the way, thanks for the jacket, I really like it." He took her hands into his, and Piper realized that they were a perfect fit. He gazed into her eyes which were on the verge of changing from a bright green to deep blue. He said,"Yeah, it looks good on you, you should wear it often. Not that you don't look good in anything else, but still, it suits you." Smiling, she gave him a peck on the cheek. Then she walked off in the direction of the gate, glancing over her shoulder, she asked,"I hope you didn't bring me here to stand in front of a cemetery the whole night, cause if you did, I might seriously have to reconsider my decision of liking you."

"You might be standing alone outside a cemetery if you don't come back to me, we aren't staying inside a cemetery for hours at night. We don't want your wonderful mother to turn me into a French rose for doing something that unromantic, now, do we?"

Piper turned around to face him, she was surprised, _what has happened to Dog Faced Dracula? Alright, the name is creepy, just a bit. S_ he thought. Raising an eyebrow, she asked him, "We won't be spending our night at the cemetery? What, did my mother attack you or something? Tell me if she did, I told her to not mess with my life..." She sighed as she remembered what she had said to her mother,' _I want a nice, steady life, with a nice, steady boyfriend.'_ What she had got was certainly not nice. Anubis noticed that she had a distant look in her eyes, he approached her and cupped her face with his hands, making her look at him.

"Hey, look at me, I swear that your mother hasn't changed any wiring in my brain, okay? It's just that I wanted to take you someplace else...I promise that it would be good."

She frowned, and scrunched up her nose like a cute little puppy, he smiled. He had always found her little actions endearing. "Fine, then tell me where are we going." He grinned and said, " It's a surprise, Ms. McLean." His girlfriend groaned and pulled her head back. She spoke, making those baby seal eyes she had learnt from months and months of being Percy Jackson's best friend. "Tell me. Or else I'll charmspeak you to." He mock glared at her and fought back, "No you wouldn't, because it would ruin every thing."

She tilted her head to a side and said, defeated, "Alright Mr. Death god, but how are we supposed to reach the 'secret' place?" He withdrew his arms from around her neck and took her hands into his. "Uh...Wh-?"

* * *

"Whoa!" Piper shrieked as she landed face first on soft and cool sand with a thud.

She heard a sweet muffled chuckle coming from somewhere above her. After a while of trying to get the sand out of her face, she turned around on her back only to see that her loving and caring and oh-so considerate boyfriend was laughing at her. She glared at him, and he said,"Gods of Egypt, you're so adorable..."She rolled her eyes and replied,"You mean my butt is, since you were staring at it so intently." He grinned and replied in a mocking tone, "That too, Ms. McLean. Though I haven't studied it as good as your lovely countenance, so I request you to kindly turn around again." She let out a groan and Anubis helped her to her feet.

"Next time, please do warn me beforehand if you get the sudden urge to drag your girlfriend to a sandbox and laugh at her. I'd keep a list of excuses ready."

Anubis rolled his eyes and gently turned her around by her shoulders. Piper looked in the direction he had made her face, and let out a low whistle, standing in front of her was the Great Pyramid of Giza."We are in EGYPT? I must say, I'm impressed." Her boyfriend wrapped his arms around her waist and and said,"I expected you to be."

After some minutes of taking in the warmth of his embrace, she noticed that they were the only ones there."So...Why is this place empty?" Anubis buried his face in her silky hair - which had those cute little braids she always did- inhaling her vanilla scent, he answered in a muffled tone, "I might have managed to make sure that no one visited this pyramid at night somehow." She rolled her eyes.

He then turned around, making her turn too. In front of them was a blanket spread out, with an old-fashioned wicker basket the like the one at the cemetery. Piper noticed that there was a bottle of champagne, too. She smiled, but it was replaced with a frown as her boyfriend stepped away from her towards the blanket, taking away her source of warmth. The two then sat down on the blanket, staring at the pyramid. After a while, Piper thought, _It's quite...not so huge._

"Yeah, it's smaller than what you might have thought of it to be." Piper widened her eyes, _wait, did I say it out loud?_ Anubis grinned and made her turn her face towards his. He pecked her nose and said, "Yes you did. But the pyramid's not the only reason why I brought you here in the first place."A puzzled look came upon her face,"It wasn-hey?!" she was cut off as he made her lie down with back against the blanket, facing the sky.

"Oh..."

Realization and covered her face as she looked up into the starry night sky. Thousands of stars were twinkling without a care in the deep blue sky, undisturbed by any foreign light of the city. Anubis opened his mouth to say something, but Piper cut him off with a hand on his lips. She sighed and snuggled closer to him as he wrapped his right arm around her. Looking at her, he spoke, "So, now am I allowed to speak?"

She giggled and said,"Hmm...Let me think, you may speak." Once again, he rolled his eyes and said, "So, how was your day? Did you enjoy it?"

At the mention of her work, Piper tore her gaze from the sky and turned to face him, she answered with a smile, "Yes, Anubis, I sure did. Working with my friends was amazing! And guess what? Reyna and Annabeth approved of my idea to raise funds for the fauns, since some of the gods don't think it necessary to spend on fauns." He noticed that her tone changed into an annoyed and angry one at the end. He smiled and asked her, "What was your idea?" He loved to hear her talk, it was kind of same with Sadie, but when Sadie talked, it was mostly complaining about everything that ever existed on the face of Earth. He felt happy and comforted when Piper spoke, she talked with such zeal and happiness that all he could do was stare at her.

"Well, I thought that we could organize a carnival sort of thing, The Demigods band could perform, lot's of people would come, Aunt Sally, Percy's mom could bake blue cookies, there could be wine tasting stalls, shops for some Hephestus/ Vulcan goods, and of course, make-up booths, organised by my 'favorite' sister Drew Tanaka." He chuckled, as he studied her face in the faint silver light of the stars, her ever changing eyes seemed more brighter, her lips prettier and her soul more pure, that is if it were possible, which, he was pretty sure wasn't. He rolled his eyes at his _ba_ thought, he had always classified the _ba_ of a person in various categories, it was his work, after all.

It was in the middle of a desert that he realized that he loved the woman beside him. On the day he met her, he knew that she was something different, he was struck by her vivacity, humor and charm. Piper stopped talking as soon as she noticed that he was staring as her, she frowned with worry, and asked softly, "What happened? Are you alright?"

"I think I'm in love with you..."

She glanced into those intense chocolate brown eyes, and the truth stumbled out from her lips as well.

"I-I love you, too."

Anubis smiled a heart warming smile and leaned forward to kiss her. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he pressed his hands against her back. Thousands of little Pipers were actually dancing inside her brain, screaming, _'He loves me! He loves me! He really, really loves me!'_

 _Alright, this is it. I, Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite, former head of cabin 10 have officially lost it. Whatever, look at all the damns I give._

After a crazy make out session, her stomach suddenly rumbled and she let out a groan, "Ughh!" Anubis smiled, and asked, "Hungry?" Piper nodded. After stuffing her face with 4 chocolate muffins, a cheese sandwich and a kiwi, she stopped. Anubis glanced at her with concern,"You didn't eat anything before, did you?" Piper bit her lip, knowing that there was no way out, she spoke,"Uh...Maybe?"

His frown got deeper and he said,"You should take care of yourself, work should not be your top priority, Piper." She chuckled and answered,"Well, I have got you for taking care of me. Why else do you think that I've got you here?" He continued to stare at her, and she knew that she wasn't successful in changing the topic. Once again, she tried, "So, I really don't think that you got this idea of a wonderful picnics from any dead spirits or from speaking to the walls at your palace." He looked away, a flustered look settling on his face as he scratched the back of his neck.

"Well, a few days back, I had to visit Erbos for some work, by the way, Egyptian and Greek/ Roman bonding is going on great, I guess lord Hades just needed a friend, it gets lonely down there once in a while. So anyways, I met Hermes, who had traveled down there for some work and he told me about something he had created long back, the Internet." Piper's eyes widened at that, she lunged at him, wrapping him into a bear hug. _Oh my gods!_ She tried to imagine her death god searching for _'Top 15 Ideas for Romantic_ _Dates.'_ on a black iPad like the one with Thanatos, (Oh yes he carried one, she heard about today it when Percy was telling them the funny bits of his trip.) he was so sweet!

"If I would've known that you would react like this, I'd waste every single night trying to figure out what that 'start' button does when the computer's already started. Raising an eyebrow, Piper asked, "You stayed up the entire night?"

"Uh...Maybe?"

Piper rolled her eyes, and then asked," Now that you've brought me to Egypt, would you care to explain me why exactly is this pyramid important?" Anubis smiled mischievously and said,"Sure, but I expect to be paid afterwards." Piper shot him a sly smile, saying, "Oh you will be, Mr. Death god." He smiled contently and started talking about the significance of a pyramid as a tomb.

After he finished, and they finished kissing, Piper glanced at her watch, it was late. Not that her dad might be waiting for her, but Anubis hadn't slept from some time and he had been through a hectic day, so what if he were a god, _he isn't a vampire, or...is he?_

"I need to go back, you too need to rest, it isn't good that you spend your day working and night on a silly computer. Oh and this time, don't drop me on the pavement, I'm not a big fan of falling on the side walk."

* * *

"So...Would you come in?" Piper asked her boyfriend as they were standing in the front porch. He grinned and nodded. They went inside, and Piper pressed her lips to his, he wrapped his arm around her waist and deepened to kiss.

All of a sudden, the lights turned on and someone cleared his or her throat behind them. In a reflex action, they broke apart.

"And you said that you were just close friends, Pipes?"

* * *

 **Look what I did there, a cliffhanger!**

 **Am so dam proud of myself!**

 **Anyways,**

 **bye-bye,**

 **lovely people!;)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Meeting The Dad, and Also, A Big Decision**

 _"And you said that you were just close friend, Pipes?"_

Piper blood literally froze into ice, it was like Khione was doing her crazy magic on her. She turned around and saw her father leaning against the frame of the door. She frowned, her eyes had a wild look. Her insides were screaming, _he isn't even supposed to be here!_

A thought then flooded into her brain, which was a little fuzzy and cluttered because of all the sudden stuff happening throughout the day, that her father had caught her kissing a guy whom she had called a mere friend last night. She glanced at Anubis, who was standing besides her and looking at her father. She looked back at her father, his expression said that he was irked and amused at the same time.

"Uh... Hey tadpole...I mean, uh...Dad."

She mentally face-palmed, _way to go, Piper. What a great way to start a conversation._ She saw her dad sigh and turn around, for a moment she thought that her amazingly awesome godly boyfriend had tricked father into thinking that they were not there. The tiny flame of hope in her was soon put out as her father motioned them to follow him to the drawing room, she huffed, _so much for having an amazingly awesome godly boyfriend._

Anubis took her hand into his and warmth coursed through her body. Okay, that sounded a bit cheesy, alright, a lot cheesy. **( Sorry fluff lovers, even though sometimes I like it a little cheesy too, I think that it's just how Piper's character should be like, for she's a daughter of Aphrodite who's different from all of her other siblings)** But she just couldn't help it.

Her brain functioned in a crazy sort of way, it was like, it wouldn't find peace in staring into Anubis' eyes, no. She just HAD to go straight into panic mode and make up various not-even-possible situations in her mind. _What if dad hates Anubis?_ _What if dad hates brown eyed boys? Oh my gods! What if dad hates boys? Would he tell me to stop dating? Oh gods! Would he tell me to date girls instead? Would I have to tell Anubis that I am leaving him for a vegetarian woman named Susan Bunch who likes to fetch pregnant women ice chips?_

With her brain all occupied and hyped up, Piper did not realize that Anubis had led her by hand to the drawing room and that her dad and them were sitting on the sofas.

"I would never leave Anubis for a woman named Susan Bunch."

Both the men turned their heads towards her. Her dad blinked a few times, not sure if he had heard correctly, Anubis too stared at her with a blank expression. Just as she realized what she had said, she slapped a hand onto her mouth, _stupid, stupid, stupid mouth! Aghhh!_ After a few minutes, the two burst out laughing. Piper looked down at her lap, her cheeks heating up. _Gods! What did I get myself into?_ She counted till 10, their laughing didn't stop.

She then remembered about one article she had read in one of her sister's glossy magazine on love which stated that people tended to like others who's personality resembled to that of their parent's. Staring at the males in front of her, Piper realized that it was kinda true. She cleared her throat, and said in an annoyed tone,"I hope you two had a lovely time laughing at me. It's good that you share the same sense of humor. Next time if you cross paths, tell me, and I'll say something stupider."

The two sobered up and her dad then looked at her, sending her an apologizing look. Piper sighed, and nodded. Somehow, she had managed to not look at Anubis, even if he had laughed at her, she couldn't get to look at him for what she had said was on top of Piper's list for _Stuff To Never Say To Your Boyfriend._

"So...Young man...Are you two in a relationship?"

Tristan asked, some girls would throw a fit, say,"Daaaaad!" and try to stop their fathers, but it took all Piper's willpower to not roll onto the floor, laughing. Her boyfriend was anything but young. She imagined her dad saying, _" So...Old man/ Egyptian death god of 5000 years, are you in a relationship with my daughter?"_

Piper immediately got the thought out of her mind, she was afraid her father might consider sending her to a mental asylum if she laughed while her boyfriend was being interrogated by him. She turned her head towards Anubis, curious about how he will react to a mortal who was calling him a young man. To her surprise and joy, he kept his mouth shut and nodded. _That's my guy!_ She glanced outside the window as the two continued talking.

"Dad, seriously. You can question him later. It's getting late, besides, we all have work tomorrow." Ignoring his daughter's interruption, Tristan asked, "Anubis, what do you do for a living?"

A look of panic shot through Piper's face, she had told Anubis that her dad did not know anything about her mother's identity or the Greek gods. She looked at him, who was looking as cool as a cucumber.

"Well, sir, I'm a senior Egyptologist."

"Senior, uh huh?" Tristan asked as he scratched his chin, and Anubis nodded. Piper decided not to focus on the fact that Anubis had called her dad 'sir'.

"How old are you, then?"

Piper squeezed her shut, any conversation which was to follow could only go downhill from here. Placing her hands on her face, she peeked between her fingers to steal a glance at Anubis' face. His expression did not give anything away. After a few moments, he answered, "I'm 27 years old."

Piper immediately took off her hands from her face, and raised an eyebrow, then, when her dad wasn't looking, she sent him a look that said, _Anubis! Not that I have a problem with dating a guy older than me, but you could choose any freaking age, and you're telling my dad that you're 6 years elder to me? How am I going to talk to him?_ Hopefully, all that had crammed up into the one look she sent him. In response, her caring and considerate boyfriend ignored her, he was very wise.

Tristan raised an eyebrow, but did not say anything, he then asked, "So, after this, will you be going back to Egypt?"

"Uh...No. Harvard asked me to serve as a visiting professor for the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. So I'll be living in the U.S. for a while."

 _OH MY GODS! The biggest liar in the whole world is sitting in front of me, also, HOW DOES HE EVEN KNOW WHAT HARVARD IS?_ Piper thought. _But the age part makes sense though, and he's the god of mummification, he is allowed to go around bragging to his girlfriend's dad that he's teaching Egyptology in Ivy League colleges._ Tristan smiled, obviously impressed, conveniently forgetting about the 6 year age gap.

-X-

"It was nice meeting you, son."

"It was a pleasure to see you too, Tristan."

Piper rolled her eyes, the two had just spent two hours together, and they were already chummy. For the past hour, the two had been talking about something famous movie stars and 6000 year old death gods talk about. She had zero idea what that was, for she was busy eating Sally Jackson's cookies with blue ice-cream in Blue Cookie Land.

Piper glanced worriedly at her boyfriend after seeing that it was dark outside. After her dad had left the two in the hall, she turned towards her boyfriend, "So, professor Anubis, would you explain all that to me?"

Anubis smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist, after a few wonderful moments of staring in her eyes which were hazel at the moment, Piper spoke up, "What is happening today, huh? You've become Mr. Romantic and you talked to my freaking dad too. Am I dreaming or what?"

"Maybe you've gone crazy, but maybe, _just maybe,_ I am utterly, hopelessly, madly in love with the demigod in front of me." He said and kissed her. The two were so busy sucking each others faces, that they did not notice Tristan walk in. Anubis registered him with the corner of his eye, and broke the kiss, turning Piper around to to face her dad. Tristan had an excellent poker face, after a few moments, he said, "Yeah, I just wanted to say that it's getting late, but now I have one more question in mind." Anubis nodded, motioning for him to go on.

"Are you two sexually engaged?"

Piper's mouth hung open, never had she ever expected her DAD to ask her something like that. She was pretty sure her face was hotter than Apollo's ride, hotter as in warm, she meant. then she frowned, _by the way, I AM 21 YEARS OLD!_ She noticed Anubis' reactions. First, he took one of his hand off her shoulder and slid it into her hand, their fingers entwining perfectly. Then he replied, his voice steady and calm, "No sir, we are not, and I wouldn't do anything stupid unless and until Piper wants me to." Tristan sighed with relief, and said, "Good, so I guess you should be going."

And it was over. She still couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that her dad had asked boyfriend if they had been...

Ew.

So, anyways, back to the porch, Anubis turned towards her. He acted like the last few minutes didn't happen. _IT DIDN'T FREAKIN' HAPPEN. Whatever. So, I might be stressing over a small point. A REALLY MINUTE, ALMOST UNNOTICEABLE POINT. WHICH HOLDS NO VALUE IN MY BOYFRIEND'S LIFE. NONE AT ALL. ABSOLUTELY NONE. NA-DA. IT MIGHT EVEN MEAN THAT IT DOESN'T-_

"Hey, you okay? You look pale."

Anubis interrupted her commentaries, Piper looked at him and was brought back to the present by the amazingness of his eyes. She nodded. He smiled and kissed her forehead, biding her goodbye. _Oh, by the way, Piper, 'amazingness' isn't a word._

* * *

The next day, Piper slept till late in the morning. Waking up, she recalled what had happened last night, and sighed, _great. Dad knows that I'm dating a death god, but he doesn't. Gah._ She thought, rubbing her eyes, she didn't even know what she meant. She got of her bed, and smiled at the pictures she had put up yesterday night on her wall, they showed Anubis, Percy, Annabeth and herself at the party they had attended. Will had emailed them to her, she examined one of them, Percy was being scolded by Annabeth, while Anubis had an arm wrapped around Piper's waist. Smiling, she went to her bathroom, and the whole time she was praying to the Fates that her boyfriend didn't try to IM her.

When she went down, she noticed that her dad had left. She then remembered that she had the whole day free as The Demigods were busy preparing for the charity carnival. Not wanting to go out, Piper went back to her room with a bowl of Strawberries and the love of her life, her guitar. She sat down with her songs notebook open, her eyes closed, and started to search her mind for inspiration. Usually, she wrote what she felt, but right now, she didn't feel anything. So she just sat there, dumbly, staring at nothing in particular. That was the time when she wanted Anubis to call her. And surprisingly, he did.

Golden light shimmered around her room, and her boyfriend's voice spoke, "Good morning. Slept well?" she turned towards him, and noticed that he was looking a bit stressed out, there was also something off about his voice.

Nevertheless, she smiled, but then it changed into a frown as realization dawned upon her, and she said, "Anubis, you didn't sleep well last night, I know it, don't lie to me, and now you are calling me when you're supposed to work, you know you should-"

He sighed and cut her off, saying, "Fine, _mother_ , I just, I had to talk to you, it's something important, but I can't meet you at this moment, so... I'll just ask you right now." Piper's brain stopped working at his words. He had to talk to her...About something important. _Oh shit. I'm dead. I'm so dead. He wants to break up with me. I know it. I just know it._

"So... Basically, Osiris wants me to go supervise the Brooklyn house for some time while the heads are busy. And while talking to him, I told him about you, and that I, uh, I love you, and I explained to him that I have no intention of leaving you here. So he asked me to bring you too, to Brooklyn. Just for a week or two, till the two in charges return.

Piper stared at him, blinked a couple of times, and asked, "So... We're not breaking up?" It was then that she realized what he meant. It hit her like a brick. Like a wrecking ball. It _came in like a wrecking ball,_ it _never hit so hard in love, all_ it _wanted was to break your walls, all_ it _ever did was, wreck me. Yeah you, you wreck me._

It was when Anubis started to laugh like a mad person that she realized that she was singing out aloud. Her whole face turned red. Anubis wiped him tears, and said, "You know, Piper, today was one of my worst days, when Osiris told me that I have to go back to _that_ place, I thought that all the gods were against me, but you just-" Unable to control himself, he burst out laughing again. After a while, he continued, "Made my day." Piper rolled her eyes, but she was smiling on the inside. She asked him, "So, I wasn't listening, what were you exactly saying?"

Smiling a bit, he said, "I wanted you to go with me to Brooklyn House, we could supervise the activities there, spend some time together, and I'll also teach you the basic magic spells, it's only for a week or two, though, what do you say?"

"Um... Well, if I leave this place, I'll have to tell my dad, and I think he'd agree, I had to go back to the States for work anyways. I'll have to tell Annabeth, Percy and others, they'd be disappointed, but they'll live." After some time of weighing the pros and cons, Piper said, "I'll come with you."

A huge smile appeared on his face as soon as he heard her answer, and Piper was glad that she was the one who had caused it.


End file.
